Biography of Roderick Dallas Cameron (1851-1935)

In or around 1855 he joined his parents and siblings in making the journey from Scotland to Canada, where they initially settled in Cobourg, Ontario.  The Cameron family resided in Cobourg for a few years, but in 1863 moved further west, to homestead in Bruce County, Ontario. 

Roderick headed to Manitoba with brothers Albert Edward and William in the late 1870s.  The three young men settled in the Winnipeg area and found work, often as a team.  After a misfortune or two they headed off to the west once again (a detailed summary of their adventures together appears in the biography of Albert Edward Cameron).  An interesting inconsistency arises in regard to his whereabouts in the years surrounding the journey to Manitoba.  U.S. Census records state that Roderick left Canada in 1865, which would indicate that a 13 year old boy was on his own.  In his father’s will, dated July 4, 1878, Roderick is the only child without a place of residence listed, which possibly implies that he was on his own.  Curiously, his Manitoba traveling companions were listed as living on the family farm in Bruce County, Ontario at the time of the aforementioned 1878 will.  All that may be stated with any certainty is that he was a resident of Michigan by early 1879, the year that he was married to Sarah Jane Vincent.

Family legend states that Roderick and William headed down into the U.S. together.  They headed southeast, parting company in Michigan, with William continuing to New York.  Roderick soon found employ with “the railroad” (exactly which one is unclear).  He remained at this job for at least 40 years, according to family records.  Census records state that he was a “foreman blacksmith.”

In 1880 Roderick and Sarah resided in Houghton, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  It is possible that Roderick and William’s path from Manitoba took them through this area, which was an early hub for the copper industry.  By 1900 the growing Cameron family had moved across the Keweenaw Waterway to Houghton’s “sister city,” Hancock.  Their home, at 540 Hancock Street, was within sight of the scenic waterway valley.  By this time Sarah had given birth to ten children, two of which passed away in their infancy.

During July 1915 Sarah passed away of pernicious anemia, while in Rochester, Minnesota.  It is unclear whether the family had briefly moved to Minnesota or - more likely - Sarah was being treated at the Mayo Clinic.  By 1920 the widowed Roderick was back in Michigan living with his youngest and eldest daughters, Aleda and Jessie.  He passed away in 1935 and is interred in the family plot at Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton, Michigan.